


Across the Universe

by etcetera_kit



Category: Super Sentai Series, 宇宙戦隊キュウレンジャー | Uchu Sentai Kyuranger
Genre: Drinking, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Hangover, Schmoop, Space family, Swimming Pools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 08:33:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13566798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etcetera_kit/pseuds/etcetera_kit
Summary: The invitation for the “reunion” on Planet Cayenne could not have come at a better time. Hame had just finished taking her final tests to get her teacher’s certification.





	Across the Universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IceRoseQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceRoseQueen/gifts).



> I apologize in advance for the secondary Stinger/Naaga storyline. (I am Stinger/Naaga trash and could not help myself!) I hope that does not detract from your enjoyment of this primarily Lucky/Hame with team (Balance) shenanigans, IceRoseQueen! (I also started a fic for your Ninnin prompt, but ran out of time. Perhaps in a few weeks!) Enjoy!

**Across the Universe**

The invitation for the “reunion” on Planet Cayenne could not have come at a better time. Hame had just finished taking her final tests to get her teacher’s certification. While she was mostly confident that she’d done well (hours and hours of studying and practice tests), she still had a niggling fear that she might have completely blown the tests. Results wouldn’t be in for a few weeks, so she jumped at the chance to relax on the capitol planet of the Leo System for a long weekend, the guest of the king.

They were staying at the manor house, which was a sprawling mansion with equally sprawling grounds just outside the city on Cayenne. The place was meant to be a retreat for the royal family and Lucky had spent the last few years fixing up the place. (He barely remembered the grounds from his childhood.) Essentially, staying there would be like staying in a hotel, complete with swimming pool, gardens, chefs and room service. The chefs would fail to impress Spada and he’d end up doing most of the cooking, which had gotten typical for their get togethers. So was someone ending up tipsy, late night roaring laughter, pool games, and some bad karaoke. 

Her transport arrived on the pad the same time as Spada’s.

“Hame-chan!” he called, waving as he slung a duffel bag over his shoulder.

“Spada!” she cried, equally as enthusiastic. She rolled her suitcase along with her as she moved to hug Spada tightly.

“Your hair is shorter,” he commented with a smile. “It looks nice. How were the tests?”

“Awful,” she replied with a dramatic shudder. “I don’t want to think about them this weekend.”

“Fair enough.” Spada nudged her. “I’m sure you did fine.”

“How’s the restaurant?” she asked.

“Buono! We’re opening a new location!”

“Hame and Spada are here!” 

They turned as they headed off the transport pad. Two uniformed attendants were striding towards them, slightly behind Stinger and Kotarou. Stinger appeared to be following Kotarou under duress, while Kotarou just looked excited to see them. He had just turned fourteen, still shorter than Stinger (but now taller than Hame, much to her chagrin.) 

“I see that,” Stinger was saying dryly.

Kotarou hugged both of them. “Mou, stop growing!” Hame teased him. “Stinger,” she added, releasing Kotarou and hugging Stinger. He stiffened, but reluctantly hugged her back. Good to know that some things would never change.

She stifled a giggle as Stinger had the same reaction to Spada hugging him.

One of the attendants took her bag.

Suddenly, she realized, “Where’s Naaga?” she asked Stinger. “Aren’t you two roommates? Wouldn’t you have traveled together?”

“He and Balance will be here in a few minutes,” Stinger replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “We didn’t leave from home for here. He was coming from another mission in the Ophiuchus System, and I was coming from the Andromeda System.”

“Still weird to me that those two are roommates,” Spada said in an undertone as the attendants took their bags away, and they waited at the edge of the transport pad.

“Got to be the quietest place in the galaxy,” Hame muttered back.

They’d all gone their separate ways after defeating Don Armage for good. Spada was slowly growing his chain of restaurants in the Dorado System. Hame had gone back to the Chameleon System to rebuild and go to college, leading up to her tests a few days ago. Kotarou was on Earth, finishing school and helping with Rebellion rebuild efforts. Tsurugi was still in a leadership position over all the constellation systems. Garou was on Cayenne with Lucky, now the planet’s strategic military commander. Raptor and the Commander were still with Rebellion. Champ had gone back to the Taurus System, and was now a galactic-renown wrestler once again. Stinger technically worked for Rebellion and lead liberation missions, rescue and relief efforts, all over the galaxy. Balance and Naaga spent their time loosely associated with Rebellion and the new leadership under Tsurugi, treasure hunting and leading diplomatic missions (mostly to the Ophiuchus System, but also a few others with closed borders.)

Not that anything was without its idiosyncrasies. Not with this crowd involved. On the Orion, there’d been so many drunken nights, people caught kissing (or in more compromising situations) that Hame was amazed that Kotarou had never stumbled across something that would scar him for life. She’d been barely eighteen back then, and the guys viewed her as a little sister to protect at all costs. Plus she’d been too young to drink. So she rarely got involved with any of the shenanigans, most times getting stuck playing checkers with Kotarou and Raptor. (Although, weirdly, _she_ always seemed to be the one finding people making out. Stinger might have come across as aloof, stoic and a loner, but he was the one Hame caught making out with people the most. For a while, she thought his goal was to make out with everyone on the entire ship except for her, Kotarou, Raptor, and the Commander.)

A new transport landed smoothly on the pad, depositing Naaga and Balance.

“Yo, people!” Balance cried. “The party can start now! BN Thieves in the house!”

Naaga followed slightly behind him, looking amused.

Four years had given everyone some time to grow up. Most of the boys now had sharper edges, for lack of a better way to describe them. No more rounded baby faces, just hard lines and muscles. None of the men around here were hard on the eye, Hame reflected. For example, Stinger’s hair was a little long right now, falling into his eyes, and she could see defined muscles through his t-shirt. Whereas, Naaga’s hair was much shorter than it had been, and he was no longer wearing all silver clothing, instead wearing a pair of jeans, a Henley and sweater. Spada’s restaurants were family-style, affordable comfort food, and he was dressed accordingly in khaki-colored pants and a plaid button-up shirt.

The attendants had appeared again, taking Naaga’s and Balance’s bags.

“How much of your bag is just alcohol?” Spada asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Seeing as I can’t drink, that would be absurd of me,” Balance responded, pretending to be offended.

“The whole bag,” Naaga outed him.

Balance gave Naaga an affronted look, before saying, “Fine. I just like to see all you organic people get wasted. It’s hilarious!”

“You know I have plenty of alcohol here, right, Balance?”

Lucky appeared on the edge of the transport pad with them, causing a chorus of people calling his name and pulling him into hugs. (The dude hugging in this group was taken very seriously—there was a lot of back smacking and handshakes-turned-hugs.)

Something tightened in Hame’s chest when she saw Lucky.

The last one of these reunions had been almost eight months ago. They hadn’t meant to let so much time pass, but they were all so busy. The weather had been amazing at the last weekend, so they’d taken a large boat out on a lake, staying on the boat for the weekend. (Stinger had gotten horrible motion sickness, so he and Naaga had gone back to the lake house. Garou got clipped with a jet ski and Kotarou capsized a kayak.) In spite of all the chaos and injuries (and s’mores), she found Lucky on the deck of the boat, away from everyone else. He was staring at the water and seemed… lonely. She’d sat down next to him, slipping her hand into his. He squeezed her hand, giving her a tight smile.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I just… I wish we could all be together like this. Like we were on the Orion. All the time. I really miss all of you.”

The past four years, and all the responsibilities he now had, made Lucky quieter, less prone to noisy outbursts and more likely to softly smile at something. In spite of Jark Matter trying to run the Leo System into the ground, Lucky had vast amounts of family money (that Jark Matter couldn’t touch, even with their fake King Aslan.) He was generous to a fault, kind to his people, and one of the first to join Tsurugi’s new constellation system alliance. Hame knew that Garou tried to look after him, but got frustrated when Lucky disappeared. (He’d figured out how to evade Garou’s tracking abilities.)

She cared about him, wanted to stay here with him so he wouldn’t be lonely. But beyond that, she’d always had a great deal of respect for him, and a large crush. He was handsome, strong, brave and a genuinely nice person. Who wouldn’t have a crush on him? She’d thought that crush might fade as the years went by. She was wrong. If anything, she felt more strongly about him. She wasn’t sure how he saw her anymore, but she hoped it wasn’t only as a little sister, a friend. 

Well, she could be an awesome friend.

“Everyone else is here,” Lucky was saying. “And we’ve got snacks at the house until the barbeque dinner tonight.”

Lucky motioned everyone ahead of him, falling into step with her. Hame had already tried not to savor his hug too much. Now, he squeezed her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said with a brilliant smile.

Uh-oh.

\--------------------

Spada had taken over for the chef thirty minutes into arriving at the house. Hame suspected Lucky arranged that, because the chef left back for the capitol city with no fuss or argument when Spada came slinking into the kitchen. He showed Spada where everything was, and Spada waved him away because he’d been here before.

The barbeque was delicious—Spada always made fantastic barbeque. They were poolside for the meal, most people in food-induced stupors afterwards. 

“Shots!” Balance yelled.

Spada covered Kotarou’s ears, and said, “Or we could put on a movie.”

Kotarou shrugged off Spada’s hands. “Can we watch Saga?”

Interestingly enough, Tsurugi perked up at that. “Lucky, don’t you have a movie theater here?”

Lucky nodded and motioned down the hall. Tsurugi clapped a hand on Kotarou’s shoulder. “This is going to be legendary.” They headed back into the house.

“I’ll bring you popcorn!” Spada called after them.

“Good, shots!” Balance cried again.

“Balance,” Naaga said, tone a little long-suffering.

“Great, you’re in.” Balance grabbed his wrist and started to leave him into the house. “Bring your roommate and his bull android.”

“Stinger,” Naaga called, tone still long-suffering.

“Coming,” Stinger practically groaned, getting up to follow him. “Champ,” he added.

If Champ could have rolled his eyes, that’s what he would be doing. He got up and trailed after Stinger into the house.

“You guys want some popcorn?” Spada asked generically to the group still by the pool.

“Sure,” Garou replied.

“I’ll help you,” Raptor said, following him into the house.

Garou and the Commander were sitting poolside, comparing notes on Rebellion strategies and the rebuild techniques being used on various planets.

“They’ll be occupied for a long time with that,” Lucky said, nodding towards the pair. “Want to go for a walk?”

“Yes,” Hame replied, a little too enthusiastically. “I don’t know if can take one more joke about weapons or Balance yelling about shots.”

Lucky smiled. “That can get a little old, huh?”

He held out a hand, helping her out of chair. He then offered his arm, and she tucked her hand into his elbow, just like some of those romantic movies. Her heart beat a little faster, and she had to stop herself from melting against him. When had he learned to be such a… gentleman? He’d always been sweet, and she couldn’t help but feel a pang that he might have been with someone else. Of course, that was natural. They only saw each other a couple times a year. Hame had a few dates with some of the boys in her classes, but no one she really clicked with. (Minaty came to campus once and took her to dinner. That had been fun!)

The gardens were expansive, with rustic cobblestone paths, an occasional bench, and flowers spilling into the paths. She knew that the gardener and his team worked really hard to keep the grounds looking nice, but she was always impressed that the gardens looked slightly messy, a charming effect, almost like she’d see some fairytale creature flitting in and out of the foliage. 

As they wound their way through the paths, she leaned a little closer to Lucky. The warmth of his body was nice. This was peaceful and quiet, the night was clear and cool, stars shining brightly. 

“How were the tests?” Lucky asked softly.

“Fine, I think,” Hame replied. “I don’t want to think about them, because I have this sense of dread that I might actually have done terribly.”

Lucky smiled. “That’s silly. You worked hard for years.”

“I know, but there’s always a chance, right?”

“No.” Lucky adjusted their arms so he could take her hand, squeezing lightly. “You worked too hard. You did well.” He nudged her a little. “Are you excited about looking for a classroom?”

A classroom. She’d done her student-teaching and actually had a job tutoring students. As soon as she got the results of her tests, she would start applying to constellation system schools, seeing which ones were hiring and hiring first-year teachers at that. She wanted to work with older elementary school students, ones just starting out on their path to junior high and high school. She’d student-taught in the Dorado System, but had observed and studied schools all over the galaxy.

“Yeah,” she said finally. “I think I am. All this work and I’ll finally get to make a difference with the kids.”

“What about the kids you tutor? You already make a difference.”

She nudged him a little. “I know, but this is different. Bigger, somehow.”

“Where are you looking?”

“My home system, of course,” she replied. “I love the schools in the Dorado System and the Cassiopeia System too.” And then, oddly, “The schools here are really great too. I was reading about the programs at the science and arts magnet school on Cayenne. It’s amazing.”

“They’re hiring,” Lucky said neutrally.

“Seriously?” Her voice had gone up an octave and she jumped up and down a little. “Oh my God, really? That would be my dream school!”

Lucky smiled. “The school would be lucky to have you.”

“Oh my God,” she said again. Seriously, that school was amazing, but they rarely hired first-year teachers, and getting in would be almost impossible, but, oh, even having an opportunity to apply? That, in and of itself, would be amazing. She almost got distracted thinking about how amazing getting a job at that school would be, and then she looked up.

The lights around the garden paths were off at this point in the evening, so they were walking by moonlight. Lucky was gazing out across the flowers, eyes distant. “Hey,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “There’s just… a lot.” He smiled tightly. “No one told me that being in charge is kind of… lonely.”

“Lucky,” she breathed. He always did his best to seem happy and enthusiastic at their get togethers, and, honestly, maybe he was. 

He smiled again, shaking his head. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re all here.”

She raised a hand, gently turning him to meet her gaze. “You really want all of us to get together more often, huh?”

He nodded, eyes bright.

She pulled him into a tight hug. “Then say something,” she whispered. “We all miss you and each other. Everyone who can make it would be here more often.”

“You’re all so busy.”

“So?”

“I don’t—”

“If you are about to say you don’t want to bother us, so help me…”

“Hame.” His eyes were dark and hooded as he gazed down at her. She watched closely, as his tongue flicked out, wetting his lips. He leaned down, her heart hammering in her chest. His arms were loosely around her waist, and she could feel the heat from his body. So gently, his lips brushed against hers in the sweetest of kisses.

He pulled back quickly. “I’m sorry. I—”

“No,” she stopped him quickly, resting a finger on his lips. She smiled at him, feeling herself flush. “You can do that again, if you want.”

“Talk about lucky.”

The next kiss was longer, familiar, before deepening. She felt hot and flushed, and wanted to be closer to him. 

This was something she could get used to.

\-------------------

The next morning was brunch by the pool. (Spada wisely made that call after catching on to some of the shenanigans last night that did not involve watching a movie and gorging on popcorn.) Last night, they’d kissed for a while in the garden and then Lucky held her hand as they walked back to the house.

“I don’t want this to end,” he’d whispered huskily by the pool.

“Me either.”

Lucky had rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, before suggesting, “We could watch a movie? I have Minaty’s new concert.”

Spend more time with Lucky and watch a Minaty concert? Sounded like a plan to her. Lucky’s room in the manor house was actually a suite of rooms, and the living area had a screen with overstuffed comfy furniture. She’d curled up by his side and fallen asleep watching the concert, just concentrating on his steady breathing and warmth. 

The next morning, she woke up on the couch. They’d shifted during the night. Lucky was stretched out on the cushions, and she was curled next to him, head on his chest. He held her against him tightly. 

“Good morning,” he’d whispered as she stirred. He reached out, wiping the sleep out of her eyes and smiling brightly.

As much as she wanted to bask in that feeling forever, loving how content he looked, she excused herself to go take a shower. She couldn’t help but grin to herself as she thought about last night and Lucky. Kissing him felt _right_. Maybe she’d just known him for a long time, but this felt like more, like… coming home. Still grinning, she put on her bathing suit and shorts, heading down to the pool. 

The scene at the pool was pitiful.

Kotarou, Tsurugi, Garou, the Commander and Raptor were sitting at a poolside table, eating brunch. Spada was fussing over some serving dishes on a long table near the house. Tsurugi was telling a loud story about a recent constellation alliance meeting. When his volume got too loud, Stinger pointedly told him to shut-up. Stinger was laying on a lounge chair in the shade, wearing only his swim trunks and sunglasses, looking hungover as hell. Champ was sipping something from a water bottle and had planted himself on a chair near Stinger.

“You all right, partner?” she caught him asking.

“I feel like hell,” Stinger moaned.

Hame said good morning to the people at the table and went to get breakfast. Spada had gone all out—French toast, scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, fresh croissants, piles of fruit, juice and coffee. Hame piled her plate with more food than was necessary, figuring she’d burn everything off swimming today. She perched on a lounge chair close enough to the table to join the conversation, but also giving her a direct—and hilarious—view of Stinger being miserable.

“Good morning!” Lucky called.

“Morning!” Balance added.

She turned, smiling at Lucky, and then her eyes widened and she had to suppress a laugh. Naaga had followed Balance and looked to be in worse shape than Stinger. He was wearing his swim trunks and a t-shirt—Robo Wrestle Mania 13?—and sunglasses. Instead of going to get food, he made a beeline for Stinger and made him scoot over on the lounge chair. He promptly cuddled up against his side, head on his shoulder. Little chummy for them, but hey, they had been roommates for two years. Who was Hame to judge their weird arrangement?

Lucky got a plate of food and joined her on the lounge chair. He nudged her gently, nodding towards the other pair.

“Rough night?” he asked them.

“Aren’t you king of this constellation system?” Stinger asked. “Can’t you make them be quiet?”

Lucky laughed.

Tsurugi let out an indignant noise that was close to a squawk. 

Naaga patted Stinger’s chest. “You’re being noisy now,” he admonished. 

“Come on, partner,” Champ added. “Try to eat something. You might feel better.”

Stinger opened his mouth to reply, but Naaga patted his chest again. No retort to that.

They concentrated on eating for a little while, listening to Tsurugi continue his story, in spite of Stinger’s protests. The chatter was friendly and familiar. Lucky was smiling to himself, listening.

Balance pulled up a chair next to them.

“So,” he said, in a conspiratorial tone that meant he was about to gossip about everyone and everything. “Here’s the rundown of last night.”

“Oh no,” Hame breathed. Lucky rested an arm behind her on the lounge chair, not quite touching her, but moving closer. His grin grew.

“I challenged Stinger and Naaga to shots with me and Champ.”

“We heard,” Hame replied dryly.

“At any rate, they lost. Badly.”

“We can see that,” Lucky pointed out.

“Well, you didn’t know they spent the night in Stinger’s room.” 

“Balance!” Naaga said in a warning tone.

“Just because they were really drunk. Not because they’re boning or anything. I wouldn’t know if they were doing that. But they’re just friends. I didn’t say that. You guys are the weird ones!”

Hame threw Lucky a confused frown. He was wincing in sympathy.

“Whatever. I’m really good at secrets.” Balance shook his head. “Moving right along. Spada took Raptor on a moonlit stroll. She wrote some poems about it. Still gushing.”

Spada dropped a serving utensil with a clatter and Raptor made a distressed noise.

“Tsurugi may or may not be jealous of that.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tsurugi responded, deliberately looking away.

“He’s also pissed because someone threw up on him last night.”

“That was Stinger,” Tsurugi outed him immediately.

“You suck,” Stinger whined.

“Garou walked the perimeter and the Commander went with him, telling stories about Big Bear and drinking from a flask. Which brings me to you two.” Balance swiveled around to face them directly. “What were you doing last night? Huh? Each other?”

“Balance!” they both yelled at once. Hame had to will herself not to blush. 

“Or whatever. Going to the library. I don’t know what you people do. Pool games!”

And then Balance was off, tossing Kotarou into the pool.

“If he comes over here, I am taking him apart,” Stinger muttered.

Other people decided the pool was a good idea.

They ended up playing a ridiculous pool game that Kotarou called Chicken, while Stinger just looked over his sunglasses and asked, “Why are you weirdos playing Worms?” Naaga shushed him after that, so there weren’t any more comments from Stinger. She was paired with Lucky, while Spada and Raptor teamed up, and Garou agreed to team up with Kotarou. Turned out, the entire purpose of the game was to be on one’s partner’s shoulders and try to knock over the other teams.

And, yeah, she and Lucky were really good at this.

Toppling Raptor was no problem—she was not taking the game seriously and just using it as an opportunity to be near Spada and make excited noises.

Kotarou was another issue. He wasn’t that short any more, but he was on lots of sports teams and kept up Rebellion training, so he was fast. Hame wasn’t a shinobi for nothing.

Lucky splashed to distract them, and Hame was able to catch Kotarou off balance.

Kotarou was protesting their victory, and Lucky gently moved her off his shoulders, catching her in a hug. He ruffled Kotarou’s hair, splashing him again, setting off another wave of roughhousing in the pool. She’d honestly forgotten how much fun this was. They all just fell into sync, like they’d never been apart.

She dodged another splash from Lucky. 

They couldn’t let so much time pass any more.

\-------------------

Spada spent all afternoon working on the formal dinner that night.

He’d insisted that they dress for dinner (which people had varying levels of success doing, since everyone seemed to have packed for a casual weekend—like the original plan.) The afternoon was been mostly quiet. Champ finally sent Stinger and Naaga back inside to go to bed when the pool games reached a fever pitch. Raptor and Spada finally won a round of Chicken, and Raptor was so excited she toppled off Spada’s shoulders.

Hame felt fluttery whenever Lucky insisted on teaming up with her. His smile was brilliant whenever he looked at her and she was struck by how _right_ all of this felt.

And Lucky, in typical fashion, was worried about his friends.

Except he seemed to know more than everyone else.

As the afternoon moved on towards evening, Hame and Lucky went inside to get lemonade. She frowned at him as he leaned against the counter in the kitchen. Spada was moving around the kitchen, completely in the zone, tuning them out entirely.

“You know what’s going on, don’t you?”

Lucky rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah.”

“They aren’t just roommates, right?”

“Yeah.”

Balance wheeled into the kitchen at that moment. “Hey, hey, hey!” he cried, flailing a little. “Lucky’s just talking crazy!”

Hame just shook her head. “It’s okay. They’re kind of sweet.”

Balance’s shoulders slumped. “Well, _I_ didn’t tell you.”

She couldn’t help but smile. So much had changed about all of them and, yet, some things were still the same. Like her and Lucky… she would have said yes in a moment if he had asked her out years ago. But he was either oblivious or just not sure she was interested. Well, they’d been a lot younger. And then all this stuff with Stinger and Naaga. She would bet money that Stinger was the reason that they hadn’t told anyone. After all these years, he was still guarded and didn’t entirely trust everyone.

Balance sighed dramatically. “I don’t know how everyone doesn’t know by now. I mean, give Naaga one glass of wine and he’ll tell everyone their five-year plan.”

_That_ perked Lucky’s interest. “Plan?”

“Or maybe it was ten years. I don’t know.”

“No, Balance, what’s the plan?”

“Oh good grief, just give Naaga a glass of wine and _he’ll_ tell you!”

“Balance!” That was the familiar Lucky wheedle when he really wanted to know something.

Balance flailed again a little. “Something about working extra jobs for the last year and a half so they could save up to travel and then get a house somewhere.”

“What? But I could have given them the money!”

“Come on, Lucky. You know Stinger. He’d never agree to that. And Naaga likes all the jobs he’s been working way too much.”

“But I can help!”

Hame laid a hand on his arm. “Balance is right. You know Stinger.”

Lucky was almost… pouting a little. The fact that he was so hurt that Stinger hadn’t come to him was endearing and adorable. He sighed, covering her hand with his own. “I wish they would ask,” he mumbled.

“Ask about what?” Spada finally snapped to the conversation.

“Nothing,” Lucky replied, turning towards him. “What’s for dinner?”

That gave them a ten minute spiel about the appetizers, the entrée and then the mountain of desserts that he was making. Raptor appeared in the kitchen wearing an apron, and that sort of explained how Spada had gotten through baking all that stuff in a few hours. Then Tsurugi appeared, covered in flour and looking annoyed, and yeah, that was actually how all this had happened.

Spada started swearing in Italian and rushed to the stove, which ended the description of everything he was cooking. Hame just took Lucky’s hand and led him out of the kitchen. Balance followed them out of the kitchen and waved as he took off down the hall.

Lucky was quiet, before he came to a halt, turned to her, and said, “What if I find out what planet they want to get a house on, and I buy the house, and then sell it to them really cheap?”

She laughed. “Let it go. Stinger will be determined.”

Lucky drew her into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I miss you all so much,” he murmured. “I wish they would let me help.”

“They’re fine. They just want you to be their friend.” She nudged him a little. “Poolside weekends here help.”

He laughed. “We’re definitely doing this more often.” He pulled back a little, pushing a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. His voice had gone low and husky, when he whispered, “I want there to be a future for us. Is there a future?”

Her heart was hammering in her chest, butterflies in her stomach. She smiled, feeling herself flush a little. They’d shared a few kisses and, yet, they’d known each other for years.

“I would like that,” she said softly.

He looked a little shy when he said, “We’ve got a lot of good schools here.”

She smiled. “I need to get my test results first.”

“You passed,” he reassured her.

“Let me get that first and see where I land with a classroom.”

“I can—”

“—help?” she finished, smiling. She stood on her tiptoes, kissing his cheek. “I know, but, I do want to see you more often. Let’s start there, okay?”

He smiled softly, leaning in and kissing her. She melted against him, hands on his chest.

“Ooo!” came Balance’s voice. “What’s this?”

They sprang apart. Hame flushed and noticed Lucky did too.

“Lucky and Hame are together,” Balance sang.

Naaga wandered out of a room, still wearing swim trunks and the Robo Wrestle Mania shirt. He frowned. “You didn’t know that?” he asked.

“I know that now!”

“But they kissed last night.”

Hame felt her mouth open. “How?” she squeaked.

“I saw you on the porch.”

Now Balance gaped at him. “You were six shots in!”

Naaga frowned. “That doesn’t mean I can’t see.”

Dinner was interesting, to say the least. Balance outed her and Lucky immediately, which got a chorus of ‘aw,’ ‘finally,’ and from Stinger, ‘they haven’t been together for the four years?’ Naaga patted his back. Hame couldn’t help shooting back with, “Kind of like you and Naaga have been together for two years?”

Stinger immediately swung around and glared at Balance. Tsurugi clapped Stinger’s back. “Give it up. Everyone knows.” He turned to Hame and Lucky. “And everyone’s know about you two for _years_. Stop trying to deny it.”

Spada came in at that moment and was explaining the food.

Hame slipped her hand into Lucky’s. He kissed the back of her hand, smiling at her.

She didn’t know what was going to happen, but this was amazing.

Fin.  
2 February 2018

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! :D


End file.
